Construction of beer engines



4. 0 L E G ll- B An Tu.

GONSTRUGTION 0F BEER ENQINBS. No. 401,406.

Patented Apr. 16, 1889.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. A. BIGELOW. CONSTRUCTION OP BEER ENGINES.

Patented Apr. 16, 1889.

Wdh er,

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. J. .11.1 BIGBLOW. CONSTRUCTION OP BEER ENGINES.

No. 401,406. I Patented Apr. 16, 1889.

{Q} l um I rule/1,251'. I. w ra :funn WL "n n. Puras. wmf-pm. wumngem o. c,

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

J. A. BIGBLOW. GDNSTRUGTION 0I' BEER ENGINES. No. 401,406. Patented Apr. 16, 1889.

n. PETERS. mno-mman". Washing no UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

JAMES AMASA BIGELOV, OF MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN HYAM NATHAN, OF SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH W'ALES.

CONSTRUCTION OF BEER-ENGINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 401,406, dated April 16, 1889.

Application filed .Tuly 16, 1887. Serial No. 244,543x (No model.) Patented in Victoria June 20, 1884, No. 3,748, and April 29, 1887, No. 5,043; in New Zealand November 21, 1884, No. 1,303; in South AustraliaApril 29, 1887, No. 800; in England May To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, JAMES AMASA BIGELOW, mechanical engineer, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, formerly residing at No. 203 George StreetJVest Sydney, in the Colony of New South `Wales, Australia, but now residing in Melbourne, in the Colony of Victoria, Australia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Beer-Engin es, (for which in part I have .received Letters Patent in the following countries: Colony of Victoria, Australia, .lune 20, 1884, No. 3,748; Colony of New Zealand, Australia, November 2l, 1884, No. 1,303 Colony of Victoria, Australia, April 29, 1887, No. 5,043; Colony of South Australia, April 29, 1887, No. 800; Colony of New South tVales, Australia, July 20, 1887, No. 2,132; Colony of Queensland, Australia, August 26, 1887, No. 268, and United Kingdom of Great Britain, May 31, 1887, No. 7,904,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for drawing beer or other liquids from a receptacle in a cellar or adjacent store-room and delivering the same to other receptacles upon a barcounter; and its objects are to provide a simple and eiiicient apparatus ot this character in which the beer or liquids may be cooled or warmed, as desired, and in which also several kinds of beer may be mixed before delivery, and which apparatus may be readily put in order by an unskilled person should any oi` its parts become disarranged during its operation.

The invent-ion consists in the construction and arrangement of parts of the beer-engine, hereinafter particularly described, and pointed out in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding part-s in all the figures.

Figure lis a central vertical sectional elevation of the pump-barrel and cooling and warming chamber of the apparatus, other parts alsobeing shown broken away andin section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the bottom plate 2,132, and iu Queensland August 26, 1887,1To. 26S.

of the same, p arts being shown in section and other parts indicated by broken lines. Fig. 3 is a similar view of the top plate of the same, parts being shown in section and in full and broken lines. Fig. 4 is a central vertical sectional elevation of one of the suction-pipes of the apparatus and the self-acting checkvalve therein, and a plan view of the union attached to said pipes. Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the apparatus, parts being shown broken away and in section. Fig. 6 is a view in front elevation of the same, parts being shown broken away.

The beer-engine comprises a circular metal plate, P', adapted to rest upon the bar-counter B', and provided with a circular groove, G', in which packing material is inserted, said plate being provided with a central opening for the -passage of the plungenrod P2, and suitable apertures to receive an inlet-pipe, I, an outlet-pipe, O, and suction-pipes S, and to permit communication between a spray-pipe, s p, on said plate, and a chamber, l beneath said plate. Upon said plate and the packing in said groove rests a pump-barrel, B, and concentric therewith a cylinder, C', whereby a chamber, C, is formed between the cylinder and said barrel. Upon the upper ends of the barrel and cylinder rests a circular metal plate, P, provided with a groove, G, in which packing material is fitted. Said plate is provided with a central opening, in which plays vertically a self-acting outlet-valve, V2, and an outlet-pipe, O, leads therefrom to a connection with a delivery-pipe, S W, provided at its outer end with a tap,T. To said plate is hinged a cap or cover, c, and in saidplate are provided hand-holes H H, closed by covers hermetically sealed by screw-nuts.

The plates P and P are held together by adjusting-rods R, provided with adjusting rings and screws A and j ani-nuts at their eX- treniities. The suction-pipes S are each provided with a regulating-tap, T, a self-acting check-valve, V, and a pressure-gage, p g.

1n the chamber C, surrounding the barrel B, is a perforated spray-pipe, s p, communieating with a chamber, I', beneath the plate P', into which the inlet-pipe I leads from a water-supply.

In the barrel B is the hollow plunger p l, provided with suitable openings for the passage of liquid to the barrel from the pipes S, said plunger being iitted with a ring of packing material between it and the sides of the barrel,`and p rovided with a self-acting outletvalve, V. Y

The plunger-rod P2is provided beneath the counter with a cross-head, c h, and connecting-rods c fr are attached thereto and to one end of a treadle, t, which is fulcrumed at F to the floor lbeneath the counter, and which treadle` is connected by an elastic band or spring, s a, to a shelf, B2, beneath said counter. The pump-barrel B serves also as a mixingchamber for several different kinds of beer or liquor delivered to it by the suction-pipes S from the casks or barrels in the cellar or storage-room. I construct both said barrel B and the cylinder C of glass, the same beinganoncorrosive material and preferable for the purposes of construction and cheapness, and also serving for ornament, although except in the latter respect any other suitable non-corrosive material may be employed in their construction.

The plate P is covered by an ornamental cap, c, constructed either of metal or of glass, which conceals the top mechanism of the beer-engine, and said cap hinges back at H to admit of access generally to the outletvalve V2 in the upper part of the apparatus, and also to admit of the removal of the plate P for free access to the barrel B and-chamber' C, if at any time required. The outlet-valve V2 in the plate P regulates the discharge of liquor from the pump-barrel B to and through the outlet-pipe O, which crosses the top of the plate P, with which pipe the draw-off tap T' is connected by the sWans-neck pipe s w, the tap being thus brought level with or below the bar-counter B'.

The hand-holes H H in the plate P, which lead into the chamber C, are to admit of the introduction of a heating or cooling medium Within said chamber, and said holes are closed by covers which are hermetically sealed by Suitable screw-nuts.

The bottom plate, P', is provided with a central opening leading to a chamber, S2, beneath said plate, from which leads a pipe, S integral therewith, for connection to the suction-pipes attached to the receptacles containing the beer. Said plate is also provided with an opening leading to a chamber, I', to which is connected an inlet-pipe, I, for the introduction of hot or cold water to the chamber C, and with a proper opening for the passage of the plunger-rod P2.

The circular perforated spray-pipe s p is xed upon the plate P in the center of the chamber C and communicates with the chamber4 I', so that water entering the pipe I will pass therefrom through the chamber I' to the pipe s p, and exit therefrom in the form of spray. An outlet-pipe, O', entering said chamber through a proper opening in the plate P', carries away the waste water from said chamber. l

The plunger p Z is arranged to work vertically, and it being a matter of difficulty to obtain a cylinder of glass which will be quite true andy free from inequalities I construct said plunger, so that it will adjust itself to the inequalities of the barrel, in the following manner: I so construct its cup 4p c as to admit of its receiving a ring of suitable material for packing, and for the purpose I have found green hide to serve best,and such packing is screwed into position and held in place on said cpp by a metal ring, so as to leave a space of, sry, one-fourth of an inch between the packing material and the sides of the plunger, whereby, during the upward stroke of the plunger, the pressure of the liquor causes the packing material to expand and press against the sides of and tit the inequalities of the pump-barrel. l

The plunger-rod P2 passes down from its attachment to the plunger to a cross-head, c h, beneath the counter B', which cross-head is attached to the connecting-rods c r, attached to the treadle t, which is fulcrumed at F to the iioor beneath said counter. Said treadle is kept normally in a horizontal position by an elastic band or spring, s a, attached at either end to said treadle and to a shelf, B2, beneath said counter. Said treadle may be fulcrumed upon a support seated in the floor or ground of the cellar, and the spring attachment may be attached to the ceiling over the cellar as desired.

Two suction-pipes, S, are shown in the draw- IOO ings; but as many of such pipes as there are chamber of electroplated metal, having found the same to be the best for use, as being noncorrosive, and also ornamental in connection with the glass barrel and cylinder; but, except in the latter respect, the use thereof is not an absolute requirement in connection with my invention. A

The plates P and P' may also be constructed of glass, with slight variations in their adjustments adapted thereto. v A

The treadle t is so adjusted that one stroke of the plunger and its rod caused by operating the treadle toward the floor will pump up a certain fixed quantity of liquor, and that quantity may be registered by means of the IIO pressure-gages j) g, which may be such as are usually employed for` measuring liquids, and located in each suction-pipe S below the checkvalve V therein, and by properly regulating the taps in the suction-pipes the liquor forced up by the action of the treadle may be mixed in the proportions desired in the barrel B.

I have found that by adj Listing the treadle t so as to give it play within a space of four and a half inches from the fioor, and using one-inch supply-pipes from the casks, by operating said treadle one pint of liquor is de livered to said pump-barrel at each stroke of the plunger-rod.

The chamber C may be filled with ice or hot or cold water through the hand-holes H H in the plate l?, or with cold or hot Water sprayed into it through the pipe I and spraypipe s p, as desired, the waste Water passing on, as before stated, through the pipe O.

H aving thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a beer-engine, the combination of the following elements: a base-plate, a pump-barrel on said plate, a valved plunger and its rod working upwardly in the pump-barrel and base-plate, a cylinder surrounding the pumpbarrel and forming a chamber therebetween, a circular spray-pipe in said chamber, airinlet-pipe communicating with the spray-pipe, an outletfpipe leading from the base of the chamber, a cap-plate centrally apertured over the pump-barrel and tted thereat with a valve, and having openings over said chamber provided with detachable covers, adjustable connections between the base and cap plates, an outletfpipe leading from the valved aperture in the cap-plate and provided with a delivery-tap, valved pipes connecting the pump-barrel with liquor-receptacles, and a foot-lever for operating the plunger-rod, all constructed, arranged, and adapted to operate as herein shown and described.

JAMES AMASA BIGELOVV.

Witnesses:

ALFRED DE LIssU, Solicitor, Sydney, New South lVaZes.

RICHARD J. HANsoN, Clerk to Alfred De Lssuf, 313 George Street, Sydney. 

